Ramon Prieto, president of the National Hotel & Restaurant Association, says that ecotourism is the future of tourism. In an interview with the Listin Diario he explained that interest in protecting the environment is a global trend among tourists. Prieto has spoken up against the construction of more large all-inclusive resorts. He favors developing smaller properties in areas of interest to tourists interested in the ecology and adventure travel. He said that, in the past, the industry has measured its progress by the number of rooms that are built. "We feel that is not the right way to measure the industry; it should be by how much foreign exchange is generated," said Prieto. "We have to start to organize ourselves and our work; the number of rooms that we already have is sufficient." "Construction is not development because when the room occupation is low we have to send the employees home," he explained. He said that hotels employ more people than hotel construction. Prieto is spearheading a national campaign to put a halt to hotel construction in the country, to give the industry time to catch up with the demand. For years, the Dominican Republic has had the highest growth rate of hotel room construction. There are more than 52,000 hotel rooms in the DR. Pedro Tomasio, president of the North Coast chapter of Opetur, a major tour operator association, also favors putting a halt to hotel construction in the DR. He told the Listin Diario: "An official policy for the regulation of the construction of new hotel rooms would be prudent." (2 May 2001)
